Ceramic furnace



June 23, 1931. J DEDQUCH I 1,811,307

CERAMIC FURNACE Filed Dec. 22 192 3 Sheets-Sheet l June 23, 1931. DEDOUCH 1,811,307

CERAMIC FURNACE Filed Dec. 22 1928 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 June 23, 1931. J DEDQUCH 1,811,307

CERAMIC FURNACE Filed Dec. 22 192 3 Sheets-Sheet 5 @J' .3 .modified form ca d y '1 Patented June 23, 1931 JOSEPH A, DEDOUGH, OF OAK PARK, ILLINOIS CERAMIC FURNACE Application filed December 22, 1928. Serial No. 327,889.

This invention relates to ceramic furnaces and the like. 1

Among the features ofmy invention is the provision ofimproved means for conveying pieces of work into and out of the furnace. Another feature of my invention is the provision of means for raising and inverting the upper part of the furnace, thus permitting easy repair and replacement of 0 the lining of the heating chamber.

Another feature of my invention is the provision of improved work pressing means in conjunction with the conveyor for pressing, straightening, embossing, stamping, or

designing articles while they are still on the conveyor and just after they have been taken out of the furnace.

Other featuresand advantages of my invention will appear more fully as I proceed with my specification.

In that form of device embodying the features of my invention shown in the accompanying drawings Figure l is a view in erspect-i-ve; Fig. 2 is avertical sectional View showing a modified form of furnace;

Fig.3 is a fragmentary View in side elevation showing meansfor automatically reciprocating the work carrier; Fig. 4: is a vertical sectional view taken through the work pressing means; Fig. 5 is a view, in end elevatio'n, partly in section showing the work pressing means; Fig. 6 is a view in Perspective of a modified form of work con veyor; Fig, 7 is a similar view of another of work conveyor; and Fig. 8

endelevation of a piece of s a Vi w in, ork

As shown the drawings, the furnace comprises'upper and lowers-sections l0 and .4 11;, the latter being supported on a pipe frame 12. 13 indicates a longitudinal muflle or heating chamber extending through the furnace. The upper section of the furnace 10 is pivotally supported at its ends as indibetween the ends of the yoke or bail 1 1, the latter being carried by one end of the lever 15, which, in turn, is pivotally supported at 16 on the upper ends of th vertical supporti g m m 17 h 5 other end of the lever 15, as indicated by 15,

serves as a handle.

handle 15*, the lever 15 is rocked to the member 14 and thu tion 10 from the fu mounting of the upper By depressing the lift up s raise the upper secrnace. The pivotal section 10 at 10 permits this upper section to be inverted when raised.

By thus raising and inverting the upper section of the furnace, the repairing or replacement of the or furnace chamber is For example, the linin surface of the muflle or easily be replaced or upper section may be such repairs and replacements can very easlly be made without dismantling the rest of the furnace.

In Fig. shown in cated by lining of the muffle greatly facilitated. sheet on the upper heating chamber can repaired. Since the raised and inverted,

2, a'modified form of furnace is which the upper section, as indi- 110, is hingedly attached to the lower section 111 by means of the hinges 112. As shown in Fig tion is provided with a 2, each furnace seccombustion chamber,

the combustion chamber in the upper section being indicated tion chamber in the indicated by 114:. 115 i such 113 and the combuslower section 111 being ndicates a gas burner as a Bunsen burner for directing a gas jet or flame into the combustion chamber 113, such flame passing through the opening the entrance of flames from (not shown). similar burners may be nace 12 in Fig. 1,. suc shown in the drawings similar burners It is to be understood that provided for the furh burners not being The flames or jets from such burners are directed into the furnace through the holes 18.

stood that the walls of It is to be underthe two sections are provided with flues or openings 118 adapted to register when the furnace is closed, such flues joining the combustion chambers in the two sections to permit the passing of heated gases from the lower section.

section to the upper 20 indicates a rectangular frame carrying the work supporting and conveying strands 21, here shown as wire s, It is to be understood that said worksupporting and conveying strands need not necessarily. be Wires but may be strands of any suitable material. Thestrands 21 are here shown as attached to one end of the cross member of the frame 20. The cross member 2O at the other end of the frame 20. is here shown aspro-- "of such rods being attachedto the vertical members 24 substantially points. The rods25 are adapted to slide in at their center the bearing members 26 carried by the ends in turn, furnace,

of the cross members 27 which, support the lower section 11 of the V such members-27 being carried the pipe it cools.

said block. 7 carried-by the cross-bar 12 of the pipe frame. "One end of the -rotating the screw 38, the plate frame 12. 1

I shall now describe the-work pressing means. As pieces of work come from the furnace in heated condition, it is frequently desirable to press the same or hold the same in a certain position so that they will cool in correct shape. For example, a flat piece of work, such as a plaque,-1s sometimes slightly bent or warped by-the heat of the furnace and it may be desirable to press'the same'and hold it in flattened position until Such pressing means I have here shown as including aswork support 30 below the supporting and conveying strands 21 As shown in Fig. 5, the work support 30 is mounted on a post-31 vertically movable inthe tubular member 32 mounted'on the plate 33-which, in turn, is slidably mounted on the pipe frame for adjusting the pressing means longi tudinally, said means including adepending block 34 carried by the plate 33 and a screw 35 inserted into a threaded opening 36 in 37 indicates a bearing member screw 35 is'provided with a handle 38 for rotatingthe same.- .By .33 may be slid longitudinally upon the side members 12 of thepipe frame, thus permitting longitudinalaadjustmentof the work support 30 longitudinally in order to place the same under ia p1ece of work resting on the conveyor members 21'. The plate 33 carries two vertlcal members 40 and 41 arranged on 1 OPPOSUJG sldes of the conveyoneleme'nts 21.

Hingedly' attached to theupper end of the member 40 is a plate-42 adaptedtO carry [for easy removal to permit exchange.

that rotation of the raise d.

12/ Means are provided of work." The I grooves on its upper side the cover member 43, here shown as carried by two posts 44, 44, the member 43 being mounted for slight vertical movementon the posts 44, 44, and the springs 45 being interposed to yieldingly 70 press the member 43 downwardly. The member 43'includes a removable face plate 43 attached to the member 43 by means of the undercut shoulders 43 The face plate 43 as shown in Fig. 4, is adapted For example, in heating a plaque, as shown in Fig. 8 and indicated by 50, the bottom of the faceplate 43-;is preferably provided with a concavity 43 adapted to accommodate 86 more or lessthe upper surface ofthe plaque 50. If desired, the present meansmay also be used for embossing,sta mping, lettering, or designing articles. I f I.

Means are providedfor raising the work' support, said: means including a transversely mounted rotatable shaft carried'by the depending-member 61 mounted onthe plate '33 and having its i'nnerend rotatably supported in bearingsj64 in the lower 'end 32 9 of the tubular member 32. 65 indicates an eccentric mounted on the inner end of the shaft 60 and lying below'the post-31, so shaft 60 accomplished by the handle 66 onthe end of the crank=67,' 'g tends torotate the eccentric 65;;to raise and lower the post ,31, and, consequently'raise and lower the work support 30. The work support 30 is provided with I grooves 70 adapted to accommodate the conveyor' strands 21 when the work support 30 is The plate--42 being hingedly atber 40permits the same to beraised to, open positio'm'as shown inFig. 1, or lowered into 1 closed position," as shown in Fig. 5. When in closed position, the locking'bar 71 provided with a hole 7 2 is adapted to be swung down over the locking pin 73 'to hold the plate 42 in closed position'.-

- SO'indiCat-es' a work holder adapted to'rest on two of the conveyor strands 21 and carry a p1ece of'work such as, for example, a

plaque 50. In the operation ofthe device, when apiece of removed from the furnace and still in'heated condition, the plate 33 is adjusted longitus dinally by meansof the screw 35 until the work support 301s directly beneath the piece plate 42 is then closed, and 1 0 a more perfect adjustment-may be madeso that when thework support 30 is raised by means of the handle 66, the piece of work lying onthe carrier'80 will be pressed up firmly against the cover plate 43 {and the 125 'pi'ec'e of work on the carrier 80 held ;in this When the position until the same cools;

--wo rk support 30 is thus raised upwardly, the

' 70- therein will accommodate the conveyor strands 21.

work such as'a plaque50 is j In the device shown in Fig. 1, the frame 20 carrying the conveyor strands 21 is adapted to be reciprocated by hand. Such reciprocation, however, may be accomplished automatically. For example, as shown in Fig. 3, the frame of somewhat different form maybe as indicated by 120, the same being reciprocably mounted on the rollers 121 carried by the vertical members 122. In Fig. 3, I have shown somewhat diagrammatically, means for automatically reciprocating the frame 120. For example, such means may include a reversible electric motor 123 driving a worm 124 which, in turn, drives a gear 125 on the shaft 126, such shaft also carrying a pinion 127 meshing with a gear 128 011 the shaft 129 which also carries a gear 130 meshing with a rack bar 131 on the side of the frame 120. The current is adapted to be supplied to the motor 123 from the line wires 134. The armature circuit is indicated by the wires150, 151 and the field circuit by the wires 152, 153. 135 indicates a reversing switch adapted to be engaged by thevertical posts 136 on the ends of the frame 120, to reverse the flow of current in the armature circuit. In the operation of the device, the frame 120 at the end of its travel, is adapted to reverse the switch 135 on engagement of one of the posts 136 with one end of the bar 137 carried by the switch, so that at each end of its travel, the motor will be reversed, thus causing reverse movement of the frame 120.

In Figs. 6 and 7, I have shown modified. forms of work conveyor or support. As shown in Fig. 6, instead of providing strands 21 extending from one end of the frame to the other, I provide at each end a plurality of bars similar to Fig. 1 extending inwardly. As shown in Fig. 6, the member 222 is similar to one of the members 20 and 20 of the frame 20, as shown in Fig. 1, and it is to be understood that there are a plurality of bars 221 extending inwardly from each of said ends.

The inner ends of the member 221 are preferably provided with holes 223 to support connecting bars (not shown). In the modified form of work conveyor or support, a2 shown in Fig. 7, I have substituted for the wire strands21 a plate 321 provided with holes 322 therein.

While I have shown and described certain embodiments of my invention, it is to be understood that it is capable of many modifications. Changes, therefore, in the construction and arrangement may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as disclosed in the appended claims, in which it is my intention to claim all novelty inherent in my invention as broadly as possible, in View of the prior art.

What I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is:

1. A ceramic furnace having a heating chamber, and a reciprocable frame having work supporting strands extending entirely through the heating chamber.

2. A ceramic furnace having a heating chamber, and a reciprocable frame having a plurality of parallelly arranged work sup porting strands extending through the heating chamber.

3. A ceramic furnace having a longitudinal heating chamber extending therethrough and a reciprocable frame having work supporting strands extending entirely through the heating chamber.

4. A ceramic furnace having a longitudinal heating chamber extending therethrough, and a reciprocable frame having a plurality of parallelly arranged work supporting means extending through the heating chamber.

5. A ceramic furnace having a longitudinal heating chamber extending therethrough, and a reciprocablo frame having a plurality of parallelly arranged work supporting strands extending through the heating chamber.

6. A ceramic furnace; work supporting and conveying strands extending through said furnace; and means for pressing work pieces, said means including a work support below the supporting and conveying strands, a cover member above the supporting and conveying strands, and means for moving the work support upwardly to lift the work piece from the supporting and conveying strands and press the same against said cover member, said work support being provided with means to accommodate the supporting and conveying strands when it is moved upwardly.

7. A furnace as claimed in claim 6, in which the cover member is y'ieldingly pressed downwardly against the work support.

8. A device as claimed in claim 6, with means for adjusting the work pressing means longitudinally with respect to the furnace.

In testimony whereof I hereunto set my hand this 28th day of November, 1928.

JOSEPH A. DEDOUCH. 

